StarFox: Flying Katina
by EchoTalion
Summary: Four months after the attempted Aparoid invasion of the Lylat system, Corneria is on the brink of political and military chaos following the crash of an alien vessel on Corneria...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I blatantly don't own any of this stuff, except what you don't see in any games and such, but just to be sure: I Do Not Own Star Fox or anything related to that subject. All these characters belong to Nintendo. 

Flying Katina

It had been a month of 'exhausting', 'arduous' and 'very important' patrol missions, mainly centred around the jewel of the Lylat System: Corneria. So far, everything that the people on the Cornerian medium-size Cruiser 'Kite' had responded to they had dealt with in the most professional way (even if they were all generally harmless things; a stray asteroid, perhaps a satellite needing realigning- they had once even had to give directions to a smaller passing vessel). They could, but were beginning to grow weary of their ridiculous assignments.

It was the fourth month after the Aparoid invasion had passed, and now everything the Cornerian Defence Force did was scrutinised by the media and therefore the people of the Lylat system. This was probably because they had nearly lost two wars, one to the Venomian forces and one to the Aparoids. Had it not been for General Pepper of the Army of the Cornerian Defence Force and a certain mercenary team, both wars would have either been lost or taken a long time to finish.

Captain April Tyler of the Kite was slouched, as she had been for four months, in her command chair, reading a book with one leg hanging over her armrest, her cheek supported by her hand. She was Cornerian, a typical Cornerian fox complete with brown hair and green eyes different to the Katinan Grey or the pink hair of a stereotypical Zonessian. A crew member turned in his chair: "Captain, I'm picking up a signal on the IFF frequency, but the computer doesn't recognise it." Another, an avian pilot named Richie added with humour: "Oh no Captain, how're we gonna get out of this one!"

She reluctantly sat up straight and replied "err…find out next week. Do we have a visual?"

"Yes ma'am, but you won't believe how this looks."

"Well, I'll take anything over this patrol. Let's see it."

She did believe what she saw, and thought it strikingly familiar.

"That looks a bit like…"

"Yes ma'am, Katina's old frontline base. Y'know, before they built the new one".

"I concur. It does, however, have some pretty odd inscriptions on the side." said an intelligence officer.

"What, like the name of the ship or…"

"No…they cover the ship. I don't think we've met these people yet." He stared intently at his personal screen, zooming in some more.

An engineer, a Katinan coyote turned to the Captain: "Unfortunately, I don't think it matters what it says on the side of the thing, 'cos it's heading for Corneria and is showing no signs of stopping." A split-second later, a huge explosion emanated from the back of the ship. "And that huge explosion isn't a good sign it's even able to stop." Then, a quiet beeping came from one of the consoles. The entire command crew looked at one avian communications officer who was busy looking at his screen.

"Err... Sorry, heh, that's me. We've got a signal coming from the ship. It's on a frequency reserved for civilian radio. They must not know that. Here it is"

A strange looking being, similar to Lylatians because of the arms and legs, but different because of the smaller heads and rounded ears appeared before them, complete with what looked like a ton of armour. He spoke for about a minute before a translation matrix could be compiled and his speech changed to Lylatian standard mid-sentence, saying: "And you will defend this vessel! I return, I shall spare your lives."

April stood, and said impressively: "I am Capt-"

"I care not for your title!"

Captain Tyler may have spent a long time being shouted at by higher ranking officers in her own military, but certainly not by people seemingly from far away and in need of their help. She beat down an impulse to shout back at him, and responded fairly calmly.

"Ahem," April continued: "April Tyler of the Cornerian Cruiser Kite. Identify yourselves and please explain your situation. We must know the reason you require defending before we do anything."

"You do not need to know anything. You are not worthy to know my name! Defend this vessel with your lives or die by my hand!"

She wasn't having this anymore, and decided to try taking charge of the situation.

"Now you listen to me! You sound pretty desperate and aren't in any position to be giving demands, now you've threatened-"

"SILENCE! I AM YOUR GOD!"

"I've heard enough, cut the transmission. Request backup and go tactical."

"Yes Ma'am!"

She quickly assessed their situation: the alien vessel may well have superior weapons technology and defences, but they seemed to be in trouble, especially since several Cornerian vessels would be bearing down on this position any second now.

The lights on the deck faded to be replaced with a red glow, casting shadows on the people's faces.

"Well month girl, how're we gonna get out of this one?" This time, the pilot said it quietly and seriously.

"heh. Let's find out now. You go to evasives, and stop calling me month girl!"

Richie decided what evasive manoeuvres he would take. To be honest, it was a little of tried and tested tactical manoeuvres and a little of his own design. The Kite, like almost all Cornerian ships was partially a melee fighter and sped towards the strange, pyramid shaped vessel. The ship charged its weapons and suddenly a massive purple cloud appeared in the middle of space, and two more, much larger flying pyramid ships, both like the original Katinan base emerged, blasting the back of the first pyramid to pieces.

By now, in orbit around Corneria behind the Kite were three medium-sized cruisers and two battleships. There was also a fast attack cruiser, defending the Orbital Gate generator.

At this sight, the two new arrivals turned and flew back into a new purple cloud and disappeared. The first, partially destroyed, plummeted through Corneria's atmosphere, what was left of its shields keeping it in one piece, more or less.

(------------------------)

Fox was driving through the most commercial section of Corneria City, the only section which had suffered damage during the Aparoid Invasion. He had been able to sabotage or destroy all the Aparoid's electro-magnetic communication jammers with help only from the rest of Starfox running an air support operation. Now, with all the repairs complete, people had returned to the area and the roads were thick with traffic again. The huge projected news cast near the centre of the area was busily reporting some of the recent, minor failures in the CDF's operations around Lylat. Fox's suv may guzzle fuel like nothing else did, but he wouldn't have settled for anything less.

Suddenly, the news cast changed and all the car radio's were forced to listen to what it was saying: "-ports that a massive alien space craft is heading for a crash landing in the middle of the largest commercial sector in Corneria City. If you are in this area, it is imperative that you head for cover or drive away as quickly as possible. The Cornerian Defence Force has made no comment on the origin of the craft, but"- and a huge piece of burning, blackened alien metal crushed the entire building. Another car swerved to avoid rubble from the crushed, previously grey and silver building and smashed into the side of Fox's car. The other car got the worst of it, but Fox still wasn't happy. The other driver had already started running for cover in a building. Fox decided to drive out, but then much smaller pieces of alien ship started falling and one piece landed right in front of him.

"Ah- hell with this!" Fox got out and ran for it too.

He took out his cell phone and blaster from the glove compartment and started dialling on the run.

"c'mon Peppy, pick up the phone…"

Halfway to the structure, he realised it was too late. Instead, he got behind a Police car, and hoped the extra armour it had would help protect him. The ringing was replaced with:

"You have reached the Fast Attack Cruiser Great Fox of the Starfox team. We are currently either playing computer games, training, or blowing stuff up. Please leave a message after the tone."

Fox got a pretty good view of the falling ship. There was a Cornerian medium-sized Cruiser plummeting with it, attempting to slow it down with a tractor beam and all of its electromagnetic cranes. It was a nice try, but the cranes were usually used for loading supplies. It would barely affect the vessel. The cruiser veered off at about 1,000 feet and let the alien ship fall.

The shields buckled on impact and the ship smashed into the ground, plowing cars, buses and buildings out the way. It eventually came to a complete stop when it hit the broad base of the structure in the centre of the district. There was a silence, followed by the sounds of sirens from several directions.

It was now that the phone began to rang.

"Peppy, what've you got?"

"It's nothing we've ever seen before. Definitely not Lylatian, but that doesn't matter now. Where are ya?"

"I'm at the corner of err…Central and Gold Street. I'll get back to the ship and-"

"No Fox. Stay there and tell us what's happening. The ship flattened the main news broadcaster."

"Well, ok. I'll get to the weird ship. It looks like the old military base at Katina; like a pyramid."

"Roger that, ROB's gonna do some more digging through archives."

General Pepper, with his aging face and immaculately presented uniform pushed open both doors of the corridor he was walking down, followed by three more officers who ere talking quickly. He and his entourage entered a large parking area and got into one black, big unmarked suv in a convoy of emergency vehicles, different from the others which all had their various organisations' names written on in bold writing.

He dialled Fox's personal number and was given a case which contained all the files on the situation so far.

"It's good hear from you General; Where are you?"

"On my way Fox. I'm gonna take control there so this doesn't blow up in my face. Want you there as a 'technical consultant', if that's alright."

Fox grinned as he knew that by 'technical consultant', the General meant someone more competent than his junior officers.

"Well sir I'm already here. I was just getting my… groceries."

"…it's beer, isn't it?"

"and nachos and crisps and ammo. We used a lot on our last dispatch. I hope you don't mind paying. It was your mission after all."

"As usual Fox. My eta is five minutes."

(------------------------)

"Ma'am, you're getting two calls from the surface."

"Me? What, personally?"

"Looks like your popular today," the communications officer replied. "It's one from the news service and one from General Pepper."

"General Pepper!"

"Oh no month girl, What'd you do This time?" Richie said sarcastically with humour.

"If you don't tell the General about our illegal and dangerous surface rescue dive, I say 'what illegal and dangerous surface rescue dive', ok?"

"Unfortunately", the communications officer said, "I think we were on live tv."

"Right. Well scratch the call from the press, and put Pepper through."

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­(------------------------)

All the officers around the desk in the temporary structure looked at April with their best 'we're about to tell you off' faces as she walked in, and were all very surprised when General Pepper clapped in her direction.

He replayed a recording of the Kite pulling away after slowing sown the alien ship as much as possible before the crash.

"Well done captain", he remarked in his gruff voice. "That was some rescue you pulled off there. Did you know how big the explosion would have been had the engines of that thing exploded?"

She had an idea, but wasn't sure.

"You slowed it down so it didn't, but if it had, this whole commercial area would have been destroyed. This would have been especially tragic considering we just finished repairing the place after the Aparoids got to it. We believe the loss of life would have been 100"

"Err…thank you sir. It was a bit of a surprise having the thing just smash into the system like that."

"Well you're on the next commendation list. In any case, I now want you to oversee the exploration and study of this vessel. Tell your ship scientists to call whatever specialists they want."

She was about to respond when a door opened from the next room of the grey prefab structure and Fox McCloud of the Starfox team walked through. The Captain almost did a double-take! He was the leader of the most successful mercenary team in the whole system!

"_I_ just got off the phone with the President. He's made this official, so Starfox will assist in the exploration of the ship."

"I see", said Pepper. "Fox, this is Captain April Tyler of the Kite. You may have witnessed her ship save your life earlier."

"Oh yeah, thanks for that. I was very close to the crash site."

"Oh," she said modestly, blushing slightly, "you're welcome."

"Yeah. General, what are we looking for exactly?"

"Anything you like. More advanced technology, their history, medical supplies. If there's more than one, you can even keep it as a souvenir. So far the most obvious pieces of technology to study have been the alien's small arms, which are in the shape of a staff and fire some kind of directed plasma energy."

"Kind of like the old CDF L-939 rifle sir?" asked April.

"Exactly. We're gonna search our 'Flying Katina' entirely."

General Pepper rose and headed for the door, turning to say

"You're the ones who are gonna get this done, so get to it."

Everyone in the room shuffled their papers and got up to make calls and organise people into action.

_2 weeks later_

"No General, definitely no medical technology that we could see was on board."

Fox was in the rec room of the Great Fox, the Starfox team's Fast Attack Cruiser, that they were still paying for. He was looking out the big window that was on one wall, looking at his laptop and holding his phone at the same time between his cheek and shoulder.

Their mission list was still empty, so they had kept working on the ship. Starfox had been in charge of weapons on the ship; finding out how they worked and how powerful.

The Great Fox was landed in a dock in one of many landing areas, with a ramp allowing ground vehicles in and out of the docking bay. The cars parked about two stories under the Arwings.

"Yes sir, we found that strange too. In the storage rooms there are crates that don't appear the same as any of the other alien stuff. They look like green, plastic boxes and are filled with vests and projectile weapons. There's a lot, so I'll brief you properly face to face. …Yes sir… ok see ya later."

Falco came in, pulling on a jacket, yawning.

"What's that about some new weapon?"

"Ah, Slippy'll tell you about it."

"I'll tell him what?

Slippy was busily making breakfast with Fara Phoenix behind the bar, which the team also used as a work surface for cooking on.

"About those powerful projectile weapons Slippy", Fara said, "but that's not the most important thing right now. First, you need to go over our finances with Peppy and ROB. And Fox? Krystal said she'd drop by later with Bill."

"Oh, I didn't know she was back on Corneria already!" Fox remarked.

"Yeah, yeah, right," joked Falco.

Fox's cheeks glowed a bit red and he retorted "I really didn't! Anyway I heard Katt was back too!"

Falco turned quickly as if he were about to say 'When did she get here!', but he checked himself in time: "Yeah, well why don't you just ask Fara out already?"

"Excuse me, 'Fara' is in the room! And maybe he should."

Fox was taken aback spluttering: 'Well- I- this is just-I don't think- You kids need to just-"

That last part had the whole team in hysterics. Falco was rolling on the couch, and said "You kids! You're barely older than me!" He could say no more for laughter. Fox sat rather dejectedly on the second couch, which was at a ninety degree angle to the first, so they both faced a large TV. Fara tugged at his cheek, also laughing; "aw, look at him when he's mad!"

Fox finally broke a smile, lunging at Falco in mock attack; "Ok, come on flyboy! You wanna go?" He and Falco assumed Close Quarter Combat positions and launched into a vicious slapping fight.

Peppy stormed in, throwing a news paper to the table in front of the two couches saying with anger: "have you guys seen this!"

"Woah, gramps! What?" Falco asked.

"There's been a war scale weapon test over the Southern Ocean by the CDF."

"So? There've been tests like that before," Fox pointed out.

"Well yes Fox, but those were in space, not Inside the Atmosphere!"

"Man, the press are gonna have Pepper's head for this."

"Not necessarily Fox. The General's been very vocal about how angry he is. He's told the press that the test was authorised due to clerical errors in paperwork, but… he told me that some of his most senior officers are to blame and that this isn't just any new weapon they tested. They went behind his back to get the test approved. The President would also like to take action, but…"

"But what?" asked Fara.

"Getting rid of these senior officers would actually be bad because, although they went around both the President and General Pepper, what they did was legal."

"What?"

"Really?"

"Yes. They got all the approvals and people they needed to develop the weapon because they slipped them in with other bits of paperwork. Also, the press would make a lot of criticism because right now, the CDF need all the good, experienced officers they can get." Peppy sounded tired now, and frustrated the CDF's lack of restraint.

"So they can't just demote or fire the trigger happy senior officers." added Fara.

"Well that sucks!" shouted Falco.

Fox then thought and said: "What's so special about this new weapon? And how did the development go on without Pepper hearing about it?"

"Well Fox, rather than concentrating a massive explosion in one place, a still powerful explosion spreads out over a much larger area. There isn't much radiation fallout either."

Peppy considered.

"As for how they got it past him, the senior officers involved probably intercepted all the memos about the weapon before they got to the General. This is dangerous Fox. It could signal weakness in Pepper, leading to all kinds of crap getting challenged and put forward. Watch this."

He flicked on the television and an image of a grey haired Katinan came up. He seemed to give an air of authority and experience. His military uniform held several medals and the Cornerian Army logo on his lapel.

At the bottom of the screen his name was in bold: Cornerian Army General Ford. He was in a press conference, the subject of which was the recent CDF

Weapons test over the sea. A member of the press asked him:

"Isn't that kind of test illegal inside the atmosphere of this planet?"

He responded without hesitation: "Normally yes, but with permission from the Commander of the armed forces and two Generals it can be allowed."

"So you're saying that General Pepper allowed this test even though last year he promised more stringent controls on weapons testing exercises?"

"I can't speak for him, but yes. He did. In fact, it is exactly this kind of attitude that General Pepper has that has led to the failings in the last two wars."

"What about his calling on the Starfox team to assist the army and fleet during those conflicts? Wasn't that a good decision?"

He Army eneral gave a small chuckle: "When you need to call on a mercenary team to fight a war for you that your entire fleet can't handle, you know you've got bad organistaion and therefore leadership, which led to the weapons test."

Peppy muted the tv.

"That guy is getting far too much influence in the CDF."

"But from the way he says it, it almost makes me believe what he's saying" said Falco.

"Oh come on, what's he gonna do, take over the CDF?" asked Fox.

Peppy cut in: "Well actually he probably is. It's likely he thinks he can do a better job than Pepper or he just wants power."

A moment later, ROB's voice come over the intercom: "A Cornerian Defence Force ground vehicle has entered the Great Fox docking bay. It is registered to Captain April Tyler of the Cornerian Medium-Sized Cruiser Kite."

"Ooh, I know her!" Fox got up and went to the lift down the hall.

(------------------------)

"Hey April, what's happening?"

"Err…I was wondering if you could give me some help."

"With what?"

She reached into her car, a metallic silver saloon, and took out the same news paper that Peppy had held previously.

"I can't get any straight answers out of command. I heard that you may have some friends."

"Oh, I have_ the_ friend."

They started walking through the corridors of the ship towards the Command Bridge.

"General Pepper? Well I suppose that makes sense, he is the one who hires you. All the other ship captains are a little uncertain about General Pepper's ability to maintain authority, after he failed to notice a clerical error. Like I believe _Clerical Error_. Someone got past Pepper, didn't they? Got approval somehow?"

"Yeah, Peppy thinks so. Y'know Peppy?"

"Yes, of the first Starfox team."

"Anyway, anything else you came for? We can give you General Pepper's personal contact details. Just tell him I gave them to you."

"Thanks, and yes, I do have something. These projectile weapons from the alien ship."

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­(------------------------)

Beltino Toad walked with a surprisingly fast pace considering his smaller size, and was followed by an entourage of four scientists. He walked straight into Pepper's office without even glancing at the secretary who spluttered at them about needing an appointment. There was already an officer having as meeting with the General, who hurried to stuff some important documents into a case as the scientists burst in.

"General, we just discovered something on the alien ship quite incredible."

"Is it some kind of technology, because I've seen plenty of that recently from that ship."

"oh no General. This is about where we came from."

(------------------------)

The entire team came down to the Great Fox's shooting range with April and each took one of the strange weapons from the crate she had brought. They were black, with gold strips running down the top of the weapon. It was obvious where you were supposed to hold one and where you should place your hands, as there were holes in the side to allow for it. It was slightly thinner than a standard Starfox blaster.

"What's so great about it Captain?" Falco asked.

"You'll see. Just point and shoot. And you must check that this switch is turned and… hold the handles tight."

She indicated to one part of the gun and flipped a switch and levelled the weapon with the stock in her shoulder, which was unusual among Cornerian weapons which were normally fired from the hip or just below the shoulder. She aimed and opened fire on the target in front of her. Normally, the targets, which were heat resistant and laser proof, would absorb a laser and show where it had been hit on a screen in front of the user.

When April fired, a streak of flame emanated about eight centimetres out from the short muzzle. Holes were punched in the target, which then split in half. She was hit with a bit more recoil than an average Cornerian Blaster would give to its user.

"Well-that is-that would- Cool!" said Fox loudly, impressed; "but it wouldn't wound very easily."

"No, this is designed to kill your enemy. Not just stun or burn."

"What's this mean on the side?" asked Slippy, pointing at an inscription.

"It's another of the words they've deciphered. Well it's not really a word, more a designation. According to what they've translated, it's called a peanutey."

"Are you sure?"

"Sorry", she took a moment to pronounce the name properly, looking at a piece of paper which she had written the name on in Lylatian standard and enunciated more clearly;

"It's called a P-90," April replied.

Falco experimented and found a torch and a laser sight.

"Can we keep these, pleeeeze," he pleaded.

"Oh yeah, there are plenty more where these came from. It looks like another race of aliens tried to take the ship, but failed and their weapons were left there. Anyway, I'm afraid they're not as enduring as blasters, so you have to replace these cartridges on the top of it after fifty shots. But, that's a lot of shots-"

Fox broke in; "Hey, if we're gonna run out of ammo with these things, we're gonna have to stick with blasters. Can you get us more cartridges?"

"Yes, my crew can synthesis more, but you still need to get me Pepper's details, and if I get you these weapons, you need to come with me to back me up."

"Deal. I was gonna go and see him anyway."

(------------------------)

"Where we came from? You mean somewhere besides the Lylat System?"

Pepper's office in the Cornerian Army's headquarters had a fantastic view of the suburbs of Corneria City, which, although they were just suburbs, still often rose to three or four stories high. All the buildings seem to complement each other and all fitted together, yet there was still open spaces with a few trees on either side of the main road, which parted into smaller roads.

Beltino took out a folder and said: "Well, you see, our evidence is 10, 000 years old, from ancient records in the ships computer systems, which are, um, of a crystal based technology. Don't take it to court, but we've got good circumstantial evidence about this."

"Director, what's your point?" asked a confused General Pepper.

"I-we- now believe that our various species did not in fact evolve in this solar system, but that non-sentient animals were taken from a planet far away to this place and were involved in genetic experiments to make the ultimate beings to serve the aliens of the crashed ship."

There was a shattering silence in the office as this new information was taken in by the General and the officer in front of him. He was the first to speak.

"You,… you, all must be mistaken! It would have taken hundreds to continue the various species after a transplant from another planet like that!"

Pepper was also sceptical, and, having had a lot of problems recently, said wearily; "What evidence do you have to present?"

"Well…you see…the solar system shown in the records of the um…ship show the system in exactly the place in the galaxy that we believe Lylat was 10,000 years ago, taking stellar drift into account. Also, it makes utterly no sense that very similar creatures would evolve on all the major planets of the system, especially since we have found absolutely no evidence for the existence of the creatures that we evolved from originally on any planets. It's been something of a puzzle and we may have the whole, um, picture."

The toad said this with remarkable speed considering how controversial and difficult to understand his findings were.

"I see," the General said, "and is it possible that any more life supporting solar systems are near by to this system?"

"No. Our scanning technologies would have detected any anomalies like that a long time ago. Any other inhabited planets must be a long way away. We could get further put from Lylat, put it would cost us, as you know. Incidentally, it seems that the projectile weapons and equipment of the other alien race, who had boarded the ship previously, are from our true home planet."

Pepper slumped back into his chair.

"This is very interesting, if it's true, but what are we to do about with this information."

"Well", Beltino stammered, "we think we can go there-"

Another scientist butted in; "or at least send a probe, which would then return to us. It would be a lot cheaper than sending people. The probe, with our latest green gate technology, could be to this world in a few years. It's a nice little solar system with nine planets, one sun with about four point five billion years left in it. However, only two of the planets seem like they are capable of supporting life; the third and fourth worlds out from their star."

Pepper stood. "Thank you, gentlemen, I'll suggest the idea of sending a probe, but not now. The President and I are far too busy dealing with these unhappy senior officers right now. I would like for you all to keep this information to yourselves for now. Give me a copy of your report and I'll contact you at a later date.

"Thank you General." Beltino handed Pepper a few sheets of paper and all the scientists all left talking excitedly about their probe project-to-be.

Pepper sat back down and asked the officer in front of him to make another appointment with his secretary.

'That damn alien ship is going to turn the whole planet upside down,' he thought to himself.

He loosened his collar and picked up his phone and dialled one on his speed dial.

"Mr. President. Yes, it is a good afternoon, but not for much longer I fear. I was just informed by several scientists, including Beltino Toad. I'm sending you-" he slid the sheets of reports into a slim machine that copied them and sent them and pushed them back out, "-a report now."


	2. Chapter 2

He waited for the President to take it all in and replied to him;

"Yes Mr. President, but the situation with the officers is even becoming dangerous, with a lot of the army, navy and fleet agreeing with them. If this information were to become public knowledge, then the officers could see the ensuing chaos as an opportunity to take power."

There was another pause.

"Yes, it is that bad and a very serious threat to Lylat's security. I don't care what the press will do; I want to remove those officers as soon as possible. It's likely, with all the requests you and I have been vetoing recently, that they would take measures to ensure Lylat's safety from outside threats."

"I mean, sir, that they would increase the size of the military, but more money into it, make Lylat a military controlled state as opposed to a democratic one. Hell, one of the most recent requests asked for conscription. I think it was some kind of joke. No, they're completely incorrect; even if the changes they now want had come about earlier, the last two wars could not have been avoided or easily won. … Yes sir. I'll see you as soon as I can."

(------------------------)

That night, all the flood lights around the crashed pyramid ship turned on all at once and were accompanied by a loud siren. There were shouts and sounds of blaster fire from inside the ship and out, and a passer by, getting footage of the ship, was actually able to zoom in from outside the perimeter fence and could see members of the CDF's Cornerian Army and police force being fired at and returning fire. The intruders all moved in professional, military poses, weapons pointed downwards unless being fired. They were clad completely in black, with red emanating from the visors. Even their tails were partially covered in lighter fabric.

A larger group came out from inside the ship, guarding a trolley filled with crates marked recently with Cornerian bio-hazard warnings. They were loading the crates onto a large cargo vessel, obviously capable of space travel due to the burn marks from many atmosphere re-entries.

At this point, the CDF pros arrived, in their hovering, metal, slightly jagged transports, covered in urban camouflage. The strike team members pouring out from the back of the three transports were dressed in matching urban camouflage, mostly with the same blasters, but some with specialised weapons like sniper rifles, shotguns and riot shields. They moved, fired and signalled to each other in exactly the same way that the enemies were. It was a good attempt, but it was too late. By the time they got past the defenders, the ship was already away.

(------------------------)

"What happened to the Fleet base north of the City!" Fox demanded.

"They scrambled fighters, but someone crashed on take off, halting the pursuit." The General explained.

April sighed; "What'd they get?"

"An alien virus the et's had in some kind of lab." The General explained further.

"I don't Suppose you know who did it?" Fox asked.

"Nope." This time April answered; "When killed, their suits released some kind of a corrosive gas, destroying any evidence."

"Still Fox, it was a very professional action. They could almost have been Cornerian trained soldiers." The General didn't like what he had just said, but it was the truth. Especially with his soon-to-be removed senior officers acting up left, right and centre. "I want Starfox to track down that virus, Fox. It'll be an official dispatch, so you'll get paid."

He turned to April; "Captain Tyler, I hope you understand the situation a little better now, after our talk."

"Yes sir, I don't care what those high rankers say, you've got the Kite behind you, if that means anything to you."

The General laughed. "It may only be one ship, but it's certainly something. I'd like the Kite to remain in orbit for a while, just in case things go wrong."

"Yes sir."

"Carry on Captain."

(------------------------)

"Ok Fox, I'll have a hamburger with cheese and a soft drink or something. How about you?"

"Falco, we're not stopping to eat."

"Well where we going then?"

"The CDF's treasury department Falco."

They drove down the ramp of the landed Great Fox, which gleamed in the afternoon sun. They got on a highway, where Fox's suv really showed what it could do, and headed for one of the central sections of Corneria City.

"Why are we going there Fox? I thought we're looking for a virus."

"Well yeah, but that team that took it all looked like Cornerian Special Forces to me, and I've seen them around for a long time."

"oh, you think the rogue senior officers paid for the attack?"

"Well, if they did pay for it, I doubt they paid for it with their own money."

"Heh, I wouldn't have."

They pulled up and parked around the corner from the building, and as they came around the corner, they saw two officers, one two star Army general and one two star Fleet General being mobbed by reporters, who for the most part were being ignored by the officers who headed straight for their convoy of three cars.

Falco took a photo with his wrist mounted computer and sent it to ROB on the ship; "Hey ROB, y'think you can tell me who this is?"

"Researching…"ROB replied.

Peppy's voice came on saying: "Falco, I'm watching these guys on the news channel, or, all the news channels because they're all showing the same thing. They're not named yet, but they're being asked about involvement with unauthorised test of the war scale weapon test a little while ago."

ROB came back on: "The Fleet General is Two Star General Anderson and the Army General is Two Star General Ford. They are believed to have been the original dissidents in the Joint Military Council of the Three Forces."

"woah they've gotta be connected." Falco remarked.

"I agree. Let's skip talking to the Generals for now."

They headed inside.

(------------------------)

Fara walked into Arspace and received a warm welcome from the staff there, mainly because she had worked as a test pilot there before she had met up with Fox and joined Starfox. She knew that in his time off from being the Director of Research, Beltino Toad came and worked at Arspace for a small sum, as a hobby.

She walked through some double doors and entered a huge room, in which new ships were created. Two sides of the room were made up of panes of glass; one was a giant door, the other of Computer screens and desks.

Beltino was hard at work, leaning over a desk, looking closely at a design, making notes and Fara sat down. She waited a minute before saying:

"Beltino? Beltino!"

He suddenly looked up, unaware that someone had sat down in front of him.

"What? err…oh! Hello um, err, what's that again… Fara Pheonix! Wonderful to see you again after… I don't even know how long! T-tell me, how can I help you?"

"Well… I know it's not your field, but I was wondering what you could tell me about that weapons test they did recently? Over the sea?"

"Oh yes, yes, quite terrible, they shouldn't have done it. That's what I can tell you. I don't know much about the mechanics of it- but I could possibly find out for you."

"Ah, that's great, but I was really wondering who was in control of it. Even Pepper doesn't know exactly who it is. We were just specifically worried that the weapon may fall into the hands of some people in the military who think- a little differently to the rest of us."

"Well, I'll see what I can find out for you, but it could be some time."

(------------------------)

"Hey Fox?"

"Yes Falco?" Fox replied wearily, leaning over a computer terminal.

"Look here, it's probably nothing, but the CDF recently received an anonymous donation a few days ago, and the Joint Military Council allocated the extra funds to the Special ground Forces." This Fox found strange;

"err… Wouldn't anyone giving a donation want to make a big deal, y'know, so everyone knows how great they are for doing it? And so the CDF knows they've got the Donor's support?"

"Yeah I guess."

"Wait; let me see the monetary exchange logs." He clicked away at his terminal and typed searches before the correct, most recent logs came up.

"Ok, they received a donation and then allocated the money to Special Forces. Hmm… two days later, after the attack on the ship's virus cargo, the CDF paid a smaller, still sizeable amount to Kirzon Pharmaceuticals. Now, I know the CDF contracts a lot of work out to the private sector, but Kirzon, according to their website, specialises in medical treatments and producing vaccines."

Fox and Falco looked at each other, standing at the same time.

"Let's go," they said simultaneously.

(------------------------)

Peppy came into the rec room in the Great Fox and gave another newspaper to Slippy. It had only been a week since Peppy had stormed in, angry about the weapons test.

Peppy paced across the large room whilst Slippy took in all the information being presented to him.

"Slippy, I want you to keep the ship ready to go at any time. If things go wrong and those officers go off the deep end, we could have to get out of here in a hurry."

"Good idea. Let's go and talk with ROB about this."

They walked down a corridor to the Command Bridge and left the paper on the table in front of the two couches. The headline read '**_Corneria City: The Military Training Ground'. _**There were pictures of six wheeled Cornerian military vehicles driving around the suburbs, and troops moving through the streets on Orientation Exercises. 'Apparently, in a recent Press Conference, General Pepper, second commander-in-chief of the Cornerian Defence Force under the President, reported that he would stop the military exercises so close to the city and that they had been approved, again, by 'Clerical Errors' in paperwork. He said that he was still in complete control and authority over the three forces.'

(------------------------)

Fox and Falco were walking out of Kirzon Pharmaceutical's city centre sky scraper.

"Waste of time. Waste," Fox said with a frustrated tone of voice. They had been kept waiting for several hours and had seen the Chairman of the company for only half an hour. Falco turned around and stopped.  
"What?" Fox asked.

"Look at this."

He was referring to a large map on the wall of the entrance lobby and pointed to a building marked for Research and Development. They were in general administration.

"Let's go."

"Where?"

"Exploring." Falco replied.

­­­­­­(------------------------)

They looked down upon a large complex of buildings in a large clearing in the middle of forests far west of Corneria city.

"Wait a second." Fox said, reaching into his suv, which he'd had repaired since it had been smashed when the alien ship crashed down in the city.

He took out two bags and a sliver case. From the bags he retrieved two Starfox vests, each with two pouches on the front and a belt on the bottom, with more pouches for equipment. From the case he took two blasters. They put those on their leg holsters. Then he took out two P-90's and spare ammo. Then he took out two blocks of plastic explosive.

"Let's go," said Falco, "but real stealthily."

"Alrighty," replied Fox, who was busy looking through some binoculars. "We'll enter through the east fence as there are buildings to hide behind right there.

They snuck past scientists, security guards and staff who might recognise the fact they didn't work there, especially since they were carrying sub-machine guns and they got in an elevator. "Hey look Fox, one of the floors is locked. You need a key card."

"err… well we're going there first." They went to the closest floor they could and went up two flights of stairs. There was a door, a space and then another door. "Ok Fox, I can get past this but-" Fox interrupted him; "wait here a minute." He took out the two blocks of plastic explosive and detonators. Then there was a large explosion. They ran into the immaculately clean corridors, weapons aimed down and flicking up when entering a new room, checking what was inside.

Falco signalled Fox to come over to him; "Look, a clean room."

"There are lots of clean rooms," he responded quietly.

"Yeah, but this one has an alien crate in it. Look."

It was true; there was a gold plated box with Cornerian bio-hazard warnings plastered on it.

"We found it."

A stun grenade was tossed around the corner and they ran. It exploded and the corridor filled with Cornerian Anti-Terrorist Police, all pointing weapons at where Fox and Falco had previously stood. A security guard had called them upon hearing the explosion. Some were looking through the window of the room, knowing all too well where the crate had come from.

(------------------------)

Fox and Falco ran, this time as fast as they could, and that was fast.

N.B. Much faster than the average human's top speed and they can also jump higher than your average human

Their speed, however, was never going to outstrip that of the Vertical Take-off and Landing gunship that had been dispatched out after them. They ran mainly in a straight line to avoid trees and such and their pursuers on the ground were falling behind.

"The Police can't have mobilised that thing so fast!" shouted Falco.

"It's not them! Look underneath!" Fox shouted back.

There was a large 'K' on the side and another on the under side of the craft, presumably to indicate 'Kirzon Pharmaceuticals'.

They both knew that their pursuers wouldn't hesitate to kill them, especially considering what they now knew about their new secret alien virus project.

Ahead of them, the forest got much, much thicker. They had to resort to jumping from tree branch to tree branch to stay ahead.

At one point, Fox jumped and spun in mid-air, firing off a burst at their pursuers on the ground and was rewarded with a scream from someone he'd managed to hit.

Faster and faster they jumped and ran, depending on how thick the foliage was, but it wasn't fast enough to outrun the gunship. They had to put all their concentration on finding a route through the forest, let alone trying to avoid being shot at. They were helped a little by the fact that some of the forest was on a slight downward slope.

They ran over half way through a clearing and were nearly to the other side, when what could only be a Space Dynamics Missile Launcher fired upon the gunship, destroying one of the short, stubby, silvery grey wings along with the engines on that wing. With too much thrust on one side, it keeled sideways and crashed into the forest. Their pursuers on the ground were about a quarter of the way through the clearing when a line of the ground exploded. The men were sent flying into the air, and Fara and Bill Grey emerged from forest on the other side of the clearing, motioning Fox and Falco into the cover of the trees.

(------------------------)

"Fox! It's been a while."

"We can catch up later Bill. We've got puzzle to solve. By the way, thanks for your rescue."

Fox and Falco continued to explain the situation to Bill and Fara as they went back to their vehicles.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, but Why would the CDF do this? Send the virus to Kirzon like this?" asked Fara.

"Well… they could want a new Bio-weapon." Falco said very carefully.

"But everyone knows that without an effective delivery system, those are virtually useless in battle."

(------------------------)

Fox and Falco returned to the Great Fox to find an angry Peppy waiting for them.

"What were you thinking?"

"Peppy, we found the virus. Pepper's men have it now."

"You still shouldn't hav- You found it? In a pharmaceutical company? Why would it be there?

They walked towards the elevator and Falco spoke up: "I think they're trying to make an alien bio-weapon."

Fox gave a small chuckle: "We've been over this Falco. Without an effective delivery system, the virus is useless over a large area."

"And why would they want one? There aren't any wars happening," Bill interjected.

Peppy stopped walking. "The rogue senior officers, Fox. That Anderson and Ford, they developed the war scale weapon with a large dispersal area. Then, suppose it was them who ordered the bio-weapon created. It would be an awesome advantage in any coup, with the perfect method of dispersion."

"Peppy, what does the virus actually do?" Falco asked.

"Let's just say… it's not a pretty sight."

"That's good enough for me."

The lights in the Great Fox were accompanied by a red light scheme, and an alert sounded through the ship.

"Ah, what now?" Fox demanded as they continued at a brisk pace to the lift.

"I'm getting' too old for this kind of thing, I swear," sighed Peppy.

(------------------------)

"What've you got ROB?" Fox asked as he sat in his Command chair. Fara entered the Bridge, pulling on a new jacket with Bill.

"Observe," ROB replied.

On the big screen in front of them, tanks and light armoured vehicles started towards the Centre of Corneria City, the capital.

"Oh man it looks like that General Ford's finally gone and done it," Falco said.

"Ah crap, ROB, get me General Pepper fast!"

"Affirmative. Please wait."

"Fox? Make this quick." Pepper had appeared before them on the screen, still in his office.

"General, you've got to get out of there fast, the dissidents in the government have the bio-weapon and the war scale weapon and they're in coup mode."

"They've got- the virus? Well, at least Fleet General Anderson hasn't started anything yet. Without his support, Ford could fail. I'm rallying everything I can get. That includes you Starfox." The signal faded, and died.

"Communications are heavily disrupted," ROB reported, "Television and Radio also."

"Slippy, get to the new main broadcasting centre and get the TV back up."

"I'm on it Fox."

"Fox, we have to get to Pepper before it's too late," Fara said urgently.

"I know, I know." He considered briefly before continuing:

"Alright, Falco, you run air support for the Great Fox. Peppy, you're gonna stay here and co-ordinate with everyone and ROB. In fact, take off and stay in orbit with the Kite. Fara, Bill and I will go to get the General to safety.

"Everyone get all that?" Fox asked.

"Yeah, and I thought I was going on holiday to Corneria," Bill remarked.

(------------------------)

The Kite veered sharply to one side as a vessel that was once a battleship flew past, mostly on fire and exploding. General Anderson had sent out new orders, which most of the fleet had followed. However, a small portion had remained loyal to General Pepper. The Kite was one of them.

The Kite did a 180 degree turn and appeared to run. Two more ships came after her, and were promptly destroyed by crashing into the former battleship, which had been moved into their path with a tractor beam from the Kite.

"Lucky, month girl, lucky," said Richie as his hands flew over controls.

"There's a time and place Richie, now is not it, but thanks anyway. Put me through to the Great Fox." April ordered. The Great Fox then flew across her screen, right in front of the Kite.

"Peppy, where's everyone else?"

"Oh, don't worry, they're still down on the planet," he responded.

"What, you mean the one on the verge of a civil war!"

"Yep, that's the one."

"Why?"

"To secure General Pepper, the President, the virus and new war scale weapons and to convince the Army to stop following General Ford's orders. How about you?"

"We, the Kite and a battleship, were just attacked by two Cornerian Fleet Cruisers, apparently on General Anderson's orders. It's going to be quiet for a few minutes, so I'll send a team to secure the virus and new weapons. I myself will join Fox's team."

"It's greatly appreciated April. Falco, are you listening?"

"Yeah gramps."

He flew his Arwing in between the two ships and did Barrel Roll.

"Help the Kite as well as the Great Fox. They may be Cornerian, or Katinan, but they are trying to kill us. They've got orders."

"Roger that."

(------------------------)

Fox, Bill and Fara were just thinking about the fact that it may possibly have been a bad idea coming to rescue General Pepper. They hadn't even gotten into the CDF head quarters' main buildings yet. They were still in the courtyard area used for parades and vehicle storage, being shot at by dissident troops. They were behind cover, but it wouldn't last for long.

"Just like it used to be, isn't it?" Bill asked.

"I don't know I wasn't there," said Fara.

"Why yes it is Bill- Frag out!" Fox replied.

He threw a grenade over the car he had ducked behind and heard a lot of shouting and screams from that general direction. Their weaponry, different to average blaster technology, had surprised the dissident troops who were after General Pepper as their bullets ripped through their laser absorbent protective clothing. However, at this rate it wasn't going to be enough.

Suddenly six drop pods smashed into the ground, along with two sentry guns that unfolded and allowed the new comers to run from their drop pods to cover.

All the soldiers who had landed were dressed in urban camouflage and helmets with green visors had small badges of kites on their arms Fox was immediately relieved to see them.

"Fox, we're about to get our asses-"

"No, look! They're from the Kite!" Fox shouted back.

With that, all three leaned out from behind the car and fired, picking their targets carefully, bursting their weapons (Bill had chosen to stick with his Blaster rifle instead of a P-90) and dropping numerous enemies. A drop soldier from the Kite got hit and his friends were in no position to help.

Fox made various hand movements which Bill nodded to and Fara got the idea about. They moved out firing continuously, one at a time. While two reloaded, the other fired. They moved to behind the drop pods imbedded in the ground, and dragged the wounded man back.

Fara turned to Fox; "He's already dead!"

From a few meters away, April could see Fox, in his grey Starfox vest, black jumper and green trousers, fire and fire again. He must really like the General to go to all this effort. Then again, he had gotten the Cornerian people through two interplanetary wars, and he had known Pepper since his childhood because his father had worked for him in the original Starfox team.

She took off her helmet and ran over, firing as she went, taking down the last sentry. With the last enemy killed, everyone from the Starfox team assumed more normal casual poses, but the people from the Kite kept their ready, military poses. That was the difference biggest between the CDF and Starfox.

"Colonel, set up a defensive perimeter as you see fit and move towards the General's office." There were various 'yes ma'am's!' shouted at her, and she turned to Fox; "Hey, thanks for trying."

"Yeah, well, it's how we do things, right? Listen, even if General Pepper's still here, the President's not safe."

"I know. I sent a team to secure him as well."

"Great work month girl. Now, the President needs to get on TV and tell the people what Anderson, Ford and the rest of that group have been up to."

"'Month girl'? Oh man, not you too. What, have you been talking to my pilot or something?"

(------------------------)

"Are you ready Mr. President?"

He nodded.

"Ok, you're on in 5, 4, 3…-" The drop trooper from the Kite signalled two and one with his fingers.

The President looked into the camera in front of him:

"Peoples of the Lylatian Alliance of Seven Planets…"

(------------------------)

Fox and Bill lifted the plastic safety covers and pressed the buttons on two stun grenades and threw them through set of double doors down a corridor lined with dissident soldiers.

(------------------------)

The President's face appeared on every screen in the Lylat System.

People in the Commercial sector of Corneria sector stopped walking to face the giant screen on the main broadcasting centre.

"I'm talking to you today about a matter of the greatest urgency."

(------------------------)

The team of three with April walked slowly down the corridor, followed by the drop soldiers from the Kite.

They turned a corner and were confronted by a line of troops which immediately opened fire. Starfox and April stayed around the corner, and the other five drop soldiers went back.

A door behind the enemies opened to reveal the drop soldiers and, using the distraction, Starfox again turned the corner, but this time returning fire with their alien projectile weapons.

(------------------------)

"As many of you may know, unhappy officers in the Joint Military Council of the three Forces have recently been complaining about the lack of military force available in the last two wars to strike our Solar System, and have focused much of the blame on General Pepper, Second Commander-in-Chief of the Cornerian Armed Forces."

(------------------------)

They all ran down the well-lit white, silver and grey corridors and came to the General's office.

The Great Fox, still in space with the Kite, but now also with two destroyers on their side, swung around the Kite and opened fire with it's two massive cannons, crippling yet not destroying the Cornerian ship. Peppy decided that the people on board had probably been told they were trying to overthrow the government or were traitors to Venom or something, and therefore didn't know about what was happening on the surface.

(------------------------)

"Let me assure you that had any General been in charge, the wars outcomes would not have changed. He has done the most that any of us can ask of him and more. I urge you to reject these rebel officers and if any of the armed forces are listening, emerge from your positions and shake hands with the fellow Lylatians you were just shooting at, because they are your allies, not your enemies."

(------------------------)

"Fox! Bill Grey?" General Pepper was surprised to see him, considering he was usually stationed at the military base in Katina.

"Good afternoon General! We need to get you away from here now, or else-"

"Wait a minute commander Grey. Let's see what the President has to say first. Fox, you didn't do all this with just Commander Grey and Miss. Phoenix, did you?"

"No General, he sure didn't," April said, walking in to the expansive office, her blaster about the size of a sub-machine gun hanging around her neck, her soldiers following her in."

"Captain, you sure know how to get a promotion in this business."

(------------------------)

"And, people of Lylat, to be quite frank and colloquial, I want Generals Anderson and Ford to get their butts down to my office right now!"

"Soldiers of the Cornerian Army, stand down."

(------------------------)

"General?"

"Yes Fox?" Fox looked uncertain and then looked up:

"We get paid for this, right?"


End file.
